Chapter 23

"They're leaving the cathedral." Mariana spoke into the cellphone at her ear as she eagerly watched Kurtis and Lara pace down the stone stairway of the Samandira Cathedral of Constantine from her hidden position in the black BMW. "Apparently he's past the second test."

The silenced voice turned to anger. "And apparently your wraiths have failed once again!"

"Yes." Mariana spoke lowly, hiding her aggravation with shame. "Apparently they have."

"We don't have time for failure!" The darkened voice cried, forcing Mariana to close her eyes out of fear. The rage calmed as fast as it had arrived. "He doesn't know about the cavern in Silivri, does he?"

"No sir, he doesn't." Mariana obediently answered.

"Make sure it stays that way." the Master spoke with agitation before pausing with thought. "Perhaps we have been taking the wrong approach with this Mr. Trent. Killing him has proved too difficult, and my mind as been pondering uses for the Vial."

"Sir?" Mariana asked, confused by his words. "I thought you wanted the Vial kept from everyone."

"I did."

"And that has changed because?"

"Because I have considered new boundaries." he explained. "Just think of what could occur if I was to feed the blood of Augustine into a Nephilim, think of the power I could gain."

"But the Vial cannot be retrieved without Kurtis." Mariana returned.

The Master smiled with evil laughter. "Exactly." he paused, letting the words sink in, sensing the surprise within Mariana's silence. "Follow them. Find the next scroll before they do, and seize Kurtis Trent." the voice paused, building fear in the demon it was directed to. "I want the Vial as soon as possible. Another failure will not be tolerated."

"And what of Miss Croft?" Mariana questioned with anger. "Do you need her alive as well?"

"I won't be that cruel." The Master spoke coldly. "I know of your longing to kill her, and I will allow it."

Mariana evilly smiled.

"But before you do," the Master continued, "bring her to me." he paused. "You say that her and Kurtis care for one another, and what better way to get to Mr. Trent than by taking the person he loves." he could sense Mariana's smile throughout the phone. "I know your evil ways," the Master continued. "Think of something creative, something fun. Fuck with their minds, just get them both here. Me and Miss Croft have some things to discuss."

"I've got the perfect thing."

"Good, see that it's done."

Silence prevailed as the phone was hung up. Mariana obeyed.

(-)

Feet fell swiftly upon the light concrete as Lara and Kurtis paced quickly through the outskirts of Samandira.

Lara fought to keep up with her companion's movements as he gradually pulled ahead of her, his face was stuck forward, his mind seeming to forget that she was even there.

Kurtis forced his foot hard into the thin sidewalk, bringing his body to a sudden halt.

Lara forced herself into an identical movement as he stood still before her.

Kurtis stared forward in silence on the abandoned backroad, the alley colored black by the darkest reaches of night. Contrary to his movement, his mind stirred rapidly, contemplating the events that had occurred at the cathedral several hours ago. He wanted to scream as he felt his jaw form outward, anger slowly rising within him. The Lux Veritatis had gone to far. He would rather be dead than burdened with the retrieval of the Vial, or being the prey of thousands of demons, hungry for his blood. They had already ruined his life enough, he couldn't stand watching the people he cared for being hurt anymore.

He wanted to leave, leave this place and never return. "A life in seclusion would be better than this shit."

The figure before him shifted her body and he directed his eyes toward her.

Lara stared at him, not understanding his silence. There was guilt in his eyes. He was blaming himself for the cathedral, blaming himself for what could've happened.

"What's wrong?" she asked him as he lowered his head. She slowly neared him and placed her hand upon his shoulder.

Kurtis shook his head before answering. He spoke softly with slight sadness in his voice. "I can't do this anymore."

"Kurtis don-"

"No." he ended her statement before an argument arose. "I have asked so much from you, and taken it all. It's my fault that you've had to go through all this, and now-" he paused as he stared at her gaping eyes. "-I almost got you killed."

"Wrong." Lara corrected his statement. "I almost got myself killed. I willingly stepped in front of you and put myself in danger." Her words stopped as she moved away and forcefully leaned against a nearby wall. "I wanted to protect you, and I would do it again." she smiled. "Magic bullets or not."

"Why?" Kurtis asked confused. "I've done and caused so many horrible things. Why save me?"

"Good Question." Lara stated with a smile, mocking his repetitive response. He didn't return it, so she removed hers. "I need you, because you can help me." Lara lowly stated as she fixed her eyes upon him. "I want Mariana."

"Also my fault." Kurtis stared at her once again. "Anything else?" he asked with nervous curiousness. "Any other reason you might want me alive other than your revenge?"

Lara looked away, knowing the purpose of this newly formed topic. "I don't know." She answered, surprised by her reply as Kurtis stared at her with disappointment. Lara remembered their kiss earlier that afternoon. She felt herself smiling as the memory appeared.

"Actually," she started again before Kurtis could reply. She grinned at him. "I think I could come up with a few reasons to keep you around."

Kurtis simply stared. He was to angry to smile, but Lara knew he was happy by the curvature of other placements upon his face.

"But right now," Lara began again at his silence, "Mariana is the only thing I want."

"Question." Kurtis looked to her with a sarcastic grin. His hope continued to wane despite Lara's positiveness. "What is the point of going after these wraiths, I mean after they're gone, there will still be one left." he paused. "The only way to truly be rid of Mariana, is after my child is born."

Lara closed her eyes and exhaled before angrily kicking a nearby trash can. "And she's the one I want." she thought to no avail. "Fuck. There has to be some way to kill her."

"There is," Kurtis cut in without expression. "but she isn't stupid enough to risk it."

"And how is that?" Lara asked in surprise, angry at him not giving her this information sooner.

"Mariana is in her demonic form all the time." he explained. "The blonde woman is her demonic form. She's stronger than the rest this way, and she blends in. The only way to kill her would be when she took on another human form."

"But shealready has a human form."

Kurtis faked a smile once again "Exactly."

Lara's brows sank with confusion. She slightly shook her head. "What?

"She possesses both forms all the time. She is constantly a wraith and she is constantly human." Kurtis stated. "So she can't be killed."

Lara smiled, though hope was gone from her mind. "But she can take on another form."

"Yeah, but it isn't that simple." He explained. "She doesn't have to stay in her host like the other wraiths. She could leave one at any moment"

Lara spoke to herself as she began to pace, her mind was confused yet rapidly informing her of ideas. "So she can abandon her host as well, making her a harder target."

Kurtis stared at Lara, she was in her own world, pondering ideas. He spoke loudly to gain her attention."Yeah, but that isn't a good thing. The host still dies after she leaves their body, even if they aren't physically injured."

Lara's heart sank. "God." she spoke lightly before another idea arose. "Well what about your little psychic tattoo?"

Kurtis stared at her with surprise. That thought hadn't occurred to him. Lara Croft had done it again, she had come up with another way to save his ass. He fought back a smile "I don't know." he stated truthfully. "It might would hurt her, hell, it may even kill her, or it may do absolutely nothing."

Lara smiled. "Well we'll just have to find out." she leaned to him and put her features closely to his face. "And being that I don't have a little psychic tattoo." She forcefully grabbed him at the words. "You're coming with me." Lara smiled as she pulled him toward her. Their lips met, and she kissed him once again.

A/N: The chapters throughout this part are much shorter than the rest, but I guess that's a good thing, seeing a short chapter is relaxing sometimes.